Call of Honor: Arctic Peril
by TheGrandAdmi
Summary: An important but neutral planet at the edge of the Mid-Rim seceded to the CIS giving its advanced and developed industry to the Confederacy. The task of retaking it was given to Jedi Master Ki-Adi Mundi who is about to face a deeper conspiracy.
1. The beginning of the end

Time-frame: Clone Wars era; a month before the Obsession series of comics  
Genre: an attempt for war thriller, action, drama  
Characters: Ki-Adi Mundi, A-17 "Alpha", Etain Tur-Mukan, N-11 "Ordo", Omega Squad, Adrias Stark, General Sheerah and other  
Disclaimer: cannon characters and stuff are property of Lucasfilm LTD., there are several non-cannon characters and places some of their names bare reference to other media  
Summary: An important planet but neutral planet at the edge of the Mid-Rim seceded to the CIS giving its advanced and developed industry to the Confederacy. So the task of retaking it was given to Jedi Master Ki-Adi Mundi who was successful at this endeavor but there is a dark and sinister secret that makes the success questionable.  
Note: This is my first fan fic that I started posting in another site

Introduction: Part 1

"The beginning of the end"

Location: Xinaghar , Mid-Rim

Third year of the Clone Wars

Galactic Marines HQ – capitol city Zimia

0600 hours

Master Mundi opened his eyes; he had been meditating for the last few hours. It was early in the morning on Xinaghar, a cold winter dawn. The Cerean Master stood up to stretch his legs. The heating system was not entirely functional so the room's temperature was low. He needed to awake his body, a new day had begun. Ki-Adi slowly moved towards the window to watch the sunrise – his eyes moved across the courtyard of the base and the landing pads where some of the old V-19 Torrents were stationed along with the newer V-wings and ARC-170s. From up there in the HQ building he could see that frost was beginning to form on the hulls of the ships – most of them haven't seen action for several days… Then his gaze swept across to the capitol city – it was a large metropolis – with skyscrapers towering in the central – corporate neighborhood. The scars of the recent battle were visible, but the citizens proved resilient and were recovering. The damage was not that bad – most capitols were lying in ruins. This time the Republic was lucky.

The orange hue of the rising sun appeared on the sky and colored the few clouds hanging over Zimia. It seemed that the day would be clear, though, probably snow would fall later. The senior Master Jedi warmed at the magnificent sight of the clear, rosy dawn over the stalwart cityscape - so peaceful. It was a change after the weeks of blizzards and dark days. Maybe he was wrong about the bad feeling that he had been having for several days…maybe the Republic actually won with fewer meaningless deaths…just maybe.

Ki-Adi opened the window to get some fresh air; he then placed his arms on the ledge of the window deeply inhaling the cold air. White puffs appeared when he exhaled and he felt condensation freezing on his mustache. The courtyard was noisy; Clones were running around busily working on setting the base up completely. Some of them were still in their old cold-weather armor – the older ones – the veterans…the new ones were with their crimson armors of the Galactic Marines… He often wondered what drove these men and whether the Jedi right to lead this army of militarily "fitted" bio-engineered beings…

Master Mundi shook his head; the moment was not right for such thoughts. They would surely undermine his resolve. The victory was not complete, there were still droid forces on the planet, the fight for Xinaghar was not entirely over. The planet was important to the Republic for its resources, highly developed industry and its closeness to the Outer Rim – thus making it a perfect planet upon which to locate a supply depot for the war effort in the Rim - the very same reason the CIS was fighting so hard to gain it.

As the sun was rising higher, the faint winter light was reflected by the snow and ice. Ki-Adi looked at the chrono on the far side of the wall – it was time, the session was about to begin, so he closed the window and moved towards the holoprojector. As he sat on a chair a 3D image of the Council Chamber appeared, all Masters were present – some (like him) via a hologram – the rest in person. Sadness crept into his heart like a window had been suddenly let open. Since the beginning of the war, the regular sessions had been held mainly to discuss tactics and warfare, not for philosophy and the contemplative and ethical light the Jedi might lend to the Galaxy. He missed all that, but times had changed, all were now called to protect everything they held dear.

Once again the bad feeling came again, while Ki-Adi tried to listen to Master Plo Koon's debriefing of the mission upon which he had been sent. He would usually listen attentively to what his colleagues said – after all the Council was a collective mind, but there was something that bothered him – something malicious at the edge of the system…

"And what is the situation on Xinaghar, Master Mundi?" the voice of Mace Windu took him out of his thoughts.

The Cerean was aware that all eyes were fixed on him. They were waiting for him to reassure them that everything was under control and the Republic would soon be able to count on the the planet's production capabilities…Still…there was something wrong.

Ki-Adi cleared his throat for his report.

"We've managed to repel the CIS forces from the capitol and the major spaceport city of the planet. The rest of the droid forces managed to slow our further advance, but we'll be able to take control of Xinaghar in the following month. Luckily, most of the supply warehouses were captured intact and with most of the resources still there. A large number of factories are still capable of renewing their production, but only a few will soon be ready to accommodate the technology to supply the war effort and most of the workers are still frightened, so it will take us a while to start producing anything. Unfortunately within their ranks there are a lot of CIS sympathizers and who had to be detained before they could sabotage the remaining undamaged foundries… A large part of the commercial spaceports were damaged severely and will not be able to handle the needs, trading vessels will have to land at the spaceport city of Kosmo, which is far from the main factories and the capitol, so merchants will have to use the maglev trains or the hover trucks…"

He paused for a second to take a breath.

"…As for the remaining CIS forces, they are badly organized and inefficient, unless such behavior is deliberate. We have air superiority though, which is the reason most of the spaceports were targeted and damaged. And finally, we have detained the pro-Separatist officials, along with some citizens of CIS controlled planets and CIS sympathizers."

Ki-Ai disliked this aspect of the war, when civilians were caught in between. The problem for the Republic with Xinaghar was that it had remained neutral during most part of the war. It was near the Outer Rim and rich in resources and had a highly developed industry. That's why it became an excellent objective for both sides. But the Separatists got lucky, a pro-Confederacy government was elected and soon afterwards droid forces started to arrive. The Galactic Marines arrived just as they started producing battle droids and were about to embark on further advances in the Mid-Rim.

"The news is good, Master Mundi, we will be sending forces to relieve you so that you and your men may proceed with your further assignments."

The Cerean Master nodded, Xinaghar was a staging ground for further assault on the Outer Rim. He was about to express his concerns about a possible CIS counter-attack when the image started flickering and then disappeared. The Jedi frowned. This was unusual, he tried to connect once again…it seemed the long range communication was down. Something was amiss; he could sense malevolence and death! He quickly tried to call Captain Wolf on-board "Illustrious" – his VenSD flagship. A flickering image of the ship's bridge appeared, then a Clone's face appeared, the man seemed worried, in the background Ki-Adi could see red lights and crew running around.

"What is going on, Captain?"

"We're being…" *static* "…by multiple hostiles…" *static* "…jamming…communications…" there was more static and the connection was severed.

They were attacked! The Jedi was sure that something was wrong and the CIS proved him right. Just as he realized that a massive explosion could be heard coming from the city. The shockwave hit the HQ, some windows were shattered. This was followed by the wails of the air-raid sirens…

The Jedi Master ran outside to see what was happening. A thick cloud of black smoke was coming from the area where the planetary shield generator was stationed. From where he was standing he could clearly see that some of the buildings in the vicinity were shattered and burning. Clones were running around the base, the engineers tried to "defreeze" the fighters for immediate take off. Commander Bacara ran towards him.

"General, Confederate commando droids and Mandalorian mercs infiltrated our base and blew up the shield generator. We have them pinned down… Our scanners indicate that our fleet in orbit is being destroyed, and our communications jammed. We're trying to track the escape pods…"

The Commander's report was cut by the familiar sound of incoming fighters. The tiny dots in the sky soon became Hyena bombers and Vulture fighters. Ki-Adi's eyes were wide as he saw the incoming missiles. Some of them struck the Republic fighters that tried to take off. Twisted metal pieces rained all around, they had caught them off-guard. The Surface-to-Air-Missiles stationed around the city returned the favor to the enemy crafts.

A Vulture was struck by flak fire sending it spinning and crashing in a building. The Separatists were exploiting their weakness – the civilians. He could feel the anger boiling from the Republic soldiers. Several V-19s managed to take off and started chasing a group of Hyenas that were bombing a defensive position. It was clear that they were trying to deny them the air superiority and the defenses against further attacks…

Ki-Adi was still there on the courtyard, standing among burning debris, he could smell the burning fuel on the ground… Medics ran around to tend to the wounded and take the dead away… Then just as they arrived, the surviving CIS craft disappeared…

"Aye, and so this will be the real battle for Xinaghar…" Ki-Adi murmured to himself.

He hoped that the Council understood what had happened and were sending reinforcements…An important planet was at stake…

The droids would land soon…

"Commander!"

"Yes, sir?"

"Contact the perimeter guards and tell them to be ready. Also I want a sitrep ASAP!" yelled the Jedi in his Cerean brogue as the roar of battle grew louder.

Bacara saluted and ran to comply with the orders…

***********

Location: Xinaghar, Zimia

Several hours before the attack

On one of the few remaining fairly undamaged landing pads of the spaceport of Zimia an YT-1760 freighter – "Righteous" - was stationed. It was 3 hours past midnight and the snowfall had ended for some time now, so there was a thin layer of the cold white fluff on the craft's hull. The crew had a special permission to land there as they were not the regular folks but Republic agents under cover.

In the middle of one of the rooms a half-naked tall and muscular figure was standing in front of a large mirror. The man was wearing only his black pants and military boots; on his right arm was a glove-like device covering the "area" from his finger to half-way to the elbow. The man folded his fingers in a fist then quickly struck the air - from the device a 50 cm blade appeared. Then struck several more times - just to be sure that the mechanism was working perfectly. The man was called Adrias Stark – a former Jedi Knight, now a Republic agent and bounty hunter.

He had been a part of the Order until his Padawan – Maya killed during a mission by a slaver. She had been one of the few being that could look at his deep scars on the left side of his face and his blind eye… Most beings winced and tried to avoid looking directly at his face but May was different, she was more than just a student… Stark stifled a cry, at first he was enraged by the Council's inaction and their lack of initiative to root out evil and injustice from the face of the Galaxy. So he just left to become an emotionless vigilante, accepting only jobs that involved criminals, corrupt politicians, warlords…beings who brought pain and misery to the innocents. He had been approached several times by members of the Order to convince him to turn away from that path, warning him that he'll only become the same as his targets – evil and ruthless.

For the past 7 years he had been asking himself this same question – is he now a bad man. When striking at his targets Adrias didn't usually feel anything, he didn't even hate them; they were just disease that has to be cured. It was too late to return back to the Temple…until the Clone Wars, he came back to work for the Republic and for the Order. He acted as a spy as he had access to some of the CIS controlled planets posing as a bounty hunter and was able to assassinate some high ranking Confederate officials. For the duration of the war his cover remained untouched and no-one really found out that he really is a Republic Intel and BlackOps operative. So now he can travel around the Galaxy unperturbed…

Stark shook his head, the moment was not right for memories, he had a job to do, someone wanted a high ranking Xinaghari official dead and a mysterious person had hired him to do the dark deed. Adrias usually had a habit to interrogate the targets about their crimes when he didn't have enough information about them… He called it the "confession"… This order was confusing, the target General Valentinian is a respected man and a stark supporter of the Republic – he had miraculously survived the CIS occupation while leading the local resistance. The General is considered to be the next candidate for a leader of the planet. This bothered Adrias, there was something wrong happening on Xinaghar. An investigation was needed before he could inform Master Mundi…

So he started putting on his light gray long sleeved hooded shirt with a sleeveless dark brown leather wrapping, leather calf braces, leather wrap arm bracers and a white sleeveless surcoat – a complete Jedi Adventure Robe. It was rarely worn by Jedi so no-one recognized him as one. His shoulder-long brown hair was covered by the white hood. The Jedi then left his room, while walking through the corridor he passed a cabin – Nyll's – the red-skinned Twi'Lek slave girl he had saved some years ago. Adrias half-opened the door and watched her sleep for several moments – she seemed to have finally found peace and looked so innocently, the scars of the atrocities that were done to her were healing…

Adrias turned his head to the far end of the corridor, there the large brown-furred Togorian – Thorn was waiting for him. The Jedi closed the door to Nyll's room and moved towards his co-pilot. They didn't have to talk, they both knew what to do, and after all they have been in this "business" for some time… So Adrias only nodded to the Togorian and went down the ramp to the cold city…

***********

An hour later, around 0400 am

General Valentinian's apartment

General Valentinian woke up suddenly by a presence inside the room. He quickly grabbed the blaster pistol and pointed it towards the chair where a shadow was sitting. The General was trying to get up, but his body was still half-asleep so he felt as if moving in slow-motion.

"Who are you?" he asked with his voice hoarse.

"No need for rash things, General…" the shadow replied with a husky voice.

Suddenly his pistol flew from his hand landed somewhere in the room. So the man was a Force-user…he must be one of Dooku's minions!

"Do what you have to do to me, Confederate scum, and tell that slime – the Prime Minister that I am not going to approve of his secret dealings with the CIS! No matter how many threats and bribes he offers!"

The very same day the General learned about the Prime Minister's secret dealings with Count Dooku about betraying the Republic and providing means to re-conquer Xinaghar and put it to a good use for the Separatist cause. Suddenly the shadow stood up and the night lamp on the cupboard switched on. This was odd, but he didn't care, the General was going to die with dignity! The shadow's left part of the face was covered by a white hood; Valentinian could see a brown circle beard, a striking grey eye and strands of long graying brown hair. The left part was concealed in shadow…  
"I am no CIS assassin, but I won't reveal my identity, do you have information to prove what you said to me about the Prime Minister's treachery?"

The General narrowed his eyes, but thought he couldn't lose anything and was sure that the man was probing his mind with the Force so there was no use in lying.

"Yes, I have copied some of the documents for the deal…"

The man grunted.

"This will not suffice, you cannot prove anything, I will make sure you will survive to find a solid proof for this. But I want you to forget about this meeting and to hire better bodyguards. I will be around to stop further attempts on your life…"

Before the General could speak, he felt extremely exhausted so he fell back on his bed sound asleep…

***********

0615 hours the same morning

Somewhere in Zimia

A black and white clad figure was crouching on the snow-covered rooftop of one of the skyscrapers watching the sunrise. Adrias tried to ignore the destruction done to the city, his gaze passed on several SAM sites, AA and flak guns scattered around the neighborhood. He was sure there were more - the GAR was doing its best to protect the Republic's citizens. For the past couple of hours he was covering his tracks and at last came to a secluded place to reflect on what he had learned… Suddenly he could feel a powerful tremor in the Force, something disastrous was going to happen.

The former-Jedi tried to shake it off so that he could proceeding with the troubling information the General had given him. The conspiracy was on a deeper level than he had imagined. He was almost sure that the Prime Minister had hired him to assassinate the popular but troublesome General.

The next events completely took him away from his thoughts… There was a large explosion from the side of the shield generator. Adrias almost fell on his back by the shockwave that shattered most of the windows of the buildings throughout the city. It was then followed by the familiar sounds of CIS fighters. Hyenas and Vultures were coming down in a strafing run towards the city. From his high point he could see civilians trying to run to the nearest shelter, some Clones activating the AA guns and flaks and other trying to load the SAM sites. Blue and crimson bolts started to fill the sky, some managed to strike several fighters before they could deliver their payload…

Explosions were coming from the GAR base, as some Republic fighters tried to take off, most of them were destroyed. Pieces of debris were raining from the sky, twisted metal hulls crashed in the building incinerating everything. The airspace was filled with the smoke of the missile trails. Adrias watched as three Vultures landed on the roof of three separate buildings destroying a SAM site. He suddenly realized that they were taking vantage point to deal a deadly blow to the Republic fighters and the Clones couldn't react properly as they were supposed not to do much collateral damage. Luckily for Adrias the droids hadn't noticed him as his robes were white and the roofs were covered in snow.

The former-Jedi stepped on the ledge of the roof of the skyscraper, his robes fanning by the wind. He reached to his back and drew his lightsaber, he had taken it just in case he would need it. His lips extended to form a grin - "Finally some real action".

The first Vulture was standing on the roof of a smaller building, several floors lower than the one he was standing on. So Adrias made a leap of faith towards the droid. In mid-air he activated the silver-colored saber. The former-Jedi used the Force to soften his landing on the automaton's body and before its processor could adapt to the change of the situation he managed to cut off its head. Then – before the body fell with a clank on the roof he just swiftly jumped off. He then turned seeking his next target - the second droid on top of the next building was turning around to fire at him. Adrias deflected several bolts but they missed the fighter and struck the wall of the building spraying duracrete to the street below. The former-Jedi found rolled as several more blasts struck the place he was standing a moment before. At last he managed to find cover behind the duracrete box that was the exit for the roof. He extended his Force-sight abilities to see where his target was and quickly used the Force to hurl the remains of the first droid. The other Vulture was not quick enough so was smashed by the headless body of its comrade.

Adrias then appeared from his cover as he sensed that the door was opening and a squad of clones appeared. Two of them were carrying portable missile launchers. He watched them put a rocket in each weapon and then fired at the remaining Vulture. One missile missed and hit the front wall of another building causing an explosion and pieces of glass and masonry to fall. The second one found its target and struck the fighter. Its head and right pair of legs were torn apart so it buckled and fell kicking snow and ice off the roof. Adrias looked up in the sky and saw the CIS fighters retreating. The Clones realized that they were not alone on the roof turned and pointed their weapons at him.

"Don't worry boys, I'm on your side, see" he flashed his ID card "…I'm from the intelligence…"

It was odd for him to see that some of the troopers were still wearing the old Katarn armor. The Republic was tightening its budget so only the newer generation and the best clones to get the new equipment. The leader of the squad – a lieutenant checked the card to verify that it was not a fake one. After that he saluted.

"I am sorry sir, we didn't know you were here…"

"No offense taken. What is the situation?"

"The CIS are launching a counter attack and we have lost our defense fleet in the process."

Adrias nodded, not that the "fleet" was that big, they had lost a lot of ships for the capturing of the planet, so they were left only with 3 VenSDs and 5 Acclamators. Master Mundi was expecting that a relief force to arrive in the coming week…

"And the strange star anomaly started just before the attack…"

On certain points of its rotation cycle the star in the system had some strange flares that messed up the long range communications up. So the Republic forces were facing an adept General now…and they had ignored this natural occurrence…It will be a costly mistake. Adrias took his comlink.

"Thorn, take Righteous, use the fake ID for the CIS and slip away towards Coruscant, use my clearance codes and report everything you see, make recordings if you must, but you have to inform the High Command of what is happening here…"

The problem was that it would take Thorn at least 3 days to reach the capitol then a day or so for them to launch a counter-attack…then 3 more days…He hoped for the Republic forces to endure that long. And there was the treason from the Prime Minister's office…

The Togorian acknowledged and broke off communications.

"Call a transport, I need to talk with General Mundi…"

The Lt. nodded and went to comply with the orders…

***********

Somewhere outside Xinaghar system

0500 hours – an hour before the attack

On-board Lucrehulk-class Droid Control Ship "Grandeur"

"Everything ready for the mission, Count Dooku…" came a raspy voice of an albino Togorian. He was a CIS Genenral named Sheerah, a Confederate patriot who fought against the Republic oppressors. The General was giving his final reports in his cabin to the leader of the Separatists – the brilliant Count Dooku. Sheerah had a deep respect for the man as he had opened his eyes to the truth that his abilities were needed to make the Galaxy a better place… The Togorian ignored the fact that he had to work with large corporations who also oppressed beings…he merely viewed them as useful tools and when the Republic collapses it will be time for retribution…

"Good, there should be no room for failure, General. I have high hopes in your abilities." replied the Count before his three-dimensional image disappeared.

His heart was pounding.

"There will be none…" he whispered to the empty space.

Sheerah had been a competent and good tribe leader on his homeworld of Togoria before Count Dooku discovered his abilities and expanded them further. So he became a sharp blade for the Confederacy, a blade that cut through the Republic. With his ingenious tactics he managed to take control of numerous planets but still was overshadowed by Grievous. Not that he hated the cyborg but his colleagues had been making some bad choices and regretted the results… and the foolish obsession for trinkets such as lightsaber trophies… Sheerah chased away the thought; this was a distraction…a stupid one. He needed to focus on the objective; Sheerah was sure that after this conflict is over the history will remember his name as the liberator of the oppressed ones! The day of reckoning was near…the corrupt slavers of Coruscant will pay the ultimate price.

Sheerah stood up and growled silently and moved outside his cabin…He had an assault to lead after all…

When he entered the bridge of the ship he was greeted by the Quarren captain N'erot and a tactical droid at his right. The captain was an able leader and relatively good tactician but an inspired and dedicated patriot like him was the first to speak.

"The fleet is ready to jump at your mark, General!"

The "fleet" was not that impressive, consisting of: 4 Lucrehulk-class battleships, 1 Lucrehulk-class Droid Control Ship, 8 Munificent-class star frigates and 6 Recusant-class light destroyers. They were enough to retake the system…but he hoped that there will be reinforcements to hold it when the Republic finally counter-attacks. The whole operation depended on surprise and the exploitation of the odd natural event – the solar flares that will disrupt communications for several hours. So he needed to capture at least one Republic ship with Droid Commandos to delay the Republic to find out what actually was going on. The CIS also depended on the traitor Prime Minister, such people made Sheerah wary because if he is ready to cross someone once, he'll be able to do so twice… But that was another problem…

The Togorian nodded, a feral smile appeared on his lips making him look even more ominous. He turned to face the tactical droid.

"What about our teams on the ground?"

"They reported that they are ready to commence with the operation at the set time." came the reply with the synthesized voice.

"Good, set the timers, we hive a tight schedule to follow…"

The captain and the droid saluted and moved away. Sheerah was sure of his success; he was one of the few CIS Generals who employed the friends of his race – the Mandalorians. Thanks to the Prime Ministers they were able to smuggle the droid commandos and the Mando'a teams on the ground. They were to knock out the planetary shield generator. Sheerah as every Togorian deeply respected the Mandos so he hoped that they won't let him down this time.

The General was anxious for the oncoming battle…

Then the fleet just winked out towards their target…Xinaghar…


	2. “…the pieces are moving…”

**Part 2**

"…the pieces are moving…"

Xinaghar system, 0600 hours, moments prior the attack

VenSD "Illustrious" in orbit of Xinaghar

Captain Wolf was sipping his cup of caf in front of the central viewport of the bridge and marveled the panoramic view of the vast emptiness of space. It was an empty, cold and lonely place. His gaze then shifted to the battered defense fleet stationed temporarily until reinforcements come and relieve them of the duty. They had suffered greatly due to the previous Commander's foolishness, so Wolf was now acting as a CO as the non-clone one was killed during the attack. "Good riddance…" thought the Captain – after all the man was a fool and his mistakes cost a lot of lives of good men.

Wolf hoped that the CIS won't counter-attack soon and catch them off-guard. The ships were holding together on spit and good faith. "Concentration, concentration…" he murmured to himself and turned to check the chrono on the far side of the bridge. There were 30 more minutes until the odd flares of the system's star begin. This unexplained natural occurrence made all long-range communications and scanners go crazy. So for the duration of about an hour they will be blind and deaf to the outside systems. He wondered how the planet survived this long and not being overrun.

The Clone then gazed outside and watched as a couple of the new ARC-170s take off for their regular patrol duty. They were to probe for any enemy scouts in the system.

"Shadow 8, this is Illustrious, good hunting ner'vod. Over! "

"Copy that, Illustrious, Shadow 8 out."

The war was taking its toll on his men - the friendly banter was almost gone. The enthusiasm was slowly dying as the ner'vods saw no end to this conflict. They were tiring with an increasing speed. Soon there won't be any soldier that could continue the bloody war. His anger started boiling again. "Probably it is true…the gossips…we're indeed a slave army to the Jedi and to the Republic…" he thought and this made things worse. Luckily a distraction came from the comms officer.

" Sir! Defender's captain wishes to speak with you, he says, that it is urgent!"

"Patch him through…"

"Defender" was one of the remaining 5 Acclamators, it was staged at the edge of the system at the direction of the Confederate controlled territory. They were to scan for any incoming threats and slow them down until they could react and stop the invasion.

"Captain Wolf, our scanners have picked something odd, there are multiple large objects incoming from Hyperspace…*static*…FIERFEK! ...*static*…under attack…*static*…hostiles…*static*…AAARGH…"

Then communication broke off.

"Sir, it seems we're being jammed… Our scanners indicate that there is an enemy battle-group at Defender's position. Also there is a large enemy activity on the planet, there are multiple aerial targets moving towards the major cities including the capitol. From our best estimates they are fighters and bombers."

"Blast!" Wolf thought, suddenly everything went wrong. This was a worst-nightmare scenario. He didn't have enough resources at his disposal to deal with every threat, so he decided to leave the aerial battle to the Anti-Air corps and the ground stationed fighters. The Clone decided to concentrate on the bigger threat – the enemy fleet.

Wolf activated the loudspeaker and connected to the rest of the defendant fleet.

"General quarters! All hands, all hands! Man your battle-stations! This is not a drill, I repeat this is not a drill!"

Suddenly all lights turned red, they were re-routing the non-essential power resources to the more crucial ones until the battle is over…or the ship destroyed. The comms officer turned again.

"Sir, General Mundi managed to break through to us…"

"Good, bring him on the screen!"

*******

**Lucrehulk-class Droid Control Ship "Grandeur"**

Xinaghar system 0615 hours

"Finally, our target!" - murmured Sheerah when they winked out of hyperspace. It was a relatively large attack force. The intel provided by the Prime Minister's minions proved to be correct as they arrived at the edge of the system where an Acclamator was stationed. "Now to destroy their eyes and ears." he thought.

"Activate jamming sequence! No communication should pass through the system!"

The five Lucrehulks were carrying powerful jammers, they were sufficient to prevent further long-range and possibly short-range communications. Just as the flares of the star of the system. So he hoped that the Republic would fall for this trap. Sheerah's forces will have an hour to do their deeds before communications are restored with the outside worlds.

The Togorian was standing in front of the viewport on the bridge and watched as a Recusant-class destroyer and 2 Munificent-class frigates break formation to make their first kill. From the looks of the hull the RAS seemed battered which made things easy for them. The Republic ship launched 3 squadrons of V-19 Torrents. The old fighters were no match for the more modern and faster Tri-fighters. The CIS capitol ships surrounded the Acclamator while exchanged turbolaser fire. It seemed that their enemy could not concentrate on one ship and while encircled had no room to maneuver out of the conflict zone. It was a matter of moments until their shields fail. When this happened explosions on its surface erupted like volcanoes ripping large chunks of durasteel and hurling frozen air and bodies. Their enemy was doomed…

A brilliant flash illuminated the forward view as the Acclamator's core exploded ripping the hull apart. The flying pieces of debris smashed some of the fighters who were buzzing around. The CIS's casualties were at a minimum and soon the dogfights around the capitol ships ended with the Tri's emerging victorious. The reports of the battle came, the Confederate ships suffered minimal structural damage and there were 6 fighters destroyed. As Sheerah finished reading it he turned towards N'erot.

"Good, proceed towards Xinaghar…"

"As you wish, General." nodded the captain then as the nav-computer finished calculating the path for their micro-jump signaled the fleet to make it towards Xinaghar.

*******

**Xinaghar orbit**

0620 hours

"Illustrious, this is Shadow 8, we're picking up some vehicles approaching, definitely not ours. Over."

"We got 'em…*static*… return to…*static*… join the rest of your squadron! Over."

"What the blazes is going on 57?" came the gunner's voice.

"Dunno, maybe the seppies decided to attack after all." it was the co-pilot.

"Stop it you two, we have to concentrate!" - the pilot CP-4357 "Shadow 3, this is Shadow 8 we have received orders to return to Illustrious to rejoin the squadron, the Separatists have finally decided to come back. Over."

"Copy that Shadow 8, we've been listening to the chatter, it seems there is trouble on the surface also. Over."

"Yeah, a bad day it is…" 57 sighed. Just as the two fighters turned towards the VenSD a massive attack force emerged from hyperspace "WHOA!"

They were at its right flank and coming from their sweep around the Xinaghar moon. Their tail was turned towards the enemy as the two fighters were about to make a sharp turn towards the imminent battle zone. "Tail gunner, do you see them?" the co-pilot seemed concerned, he didn't have a clear view, as he was in the middle of the fighter.

"Yes, they've brought a lot of toys for smashing this time!"

"I guess they are serious about it…"

"It seems so…"

"Quit the chatter you two!" the pilot almost shouted. The scans indicated a large number of fast moving targets incoming…fighters!

"No time to go back! Shadow 3 - lock S-foils in attack position!"

"Copy that!" - came the reply.

Two fighters slowed down and each made a turn towards the enemy ships. The pilot watched as the CIS capitol ships were closing in firing range of the Republic forces and launched a large amount of Vultures, Hyenas and Tri-Fighters towards the smaller in numbers squadrons of the defendants. The battle was already lost…

"Shadow 8 what are you doing!? Return to the squadron immediately!"

"No can do that…sir…"

It was pointless, they won't survive this, but this didn't mean that they won't take a lot of tinnies with them. The pilot grinned under the helmet ignoring the Squadron leader's orders.

*******

**Lucrehulk-class Droid Control Ship "Grandeur"**

Xinaghar orbit; 0620 hours

Suddenly in a close range of the planet a relatively large attack force of CIS capitol ships emerged from hyperspace. They had finally reached their designated target. The Confederates quickly took battle positions: the Lucrehulks took a semi-circle position so that they could prevent the enemy from fleeing the battle. They were supposed to hold this position until everything was ready for stage 2 of the plan. The rest of the battle-group headed forward to neutralize the Acclamators – the CIS needed the Venators intact.

"General, we're picking up a couple of fighters coming in from our right flank headed our way!" – an OOM-class droid pilot said.

Sheerah growled from annoyance.

"Don't bother me with such insignificant matters!" - sometimes the battle droids were getting on his nerves. "What's the situation, captain?" he asked as he turned towards the Quarren.

"It seems that there are only 4 Acclamators and 3 Venators left in the system. The good news is that both types of ships seem battle-damaged."

Sheerah nodded.

"Good, let's finish them off… All units engage the enemy forces!"

The Quarren saluted and started giving orders to the droids and to the captains of the other ships linked to the flagship. The usual "Roger, roger…" filled the room as the automatons acknowledged their orders. The fires of anxiety and excitement started burning through his soul – soon…very soon another planet should be liberated…

The CIS ships started pouring fighters towards the defendant's lines as the capitol ships were approaching their counterparts from the opposite side of the barricade. The board was set…the pieces were moving. Everyone were now in their positions and almost as soon as they were in their place that brilliant flashes of turbolaser fire filled the viewport. A predatory grin appeared on his face thus rendering it even more ominous. It was the tactical droid who took him out from the trance.

"General, Commander Val reported that his fighters and bombers had begun their attack on the targets. He claims that their mission was a success and managed to soften their defenses. The Commander also asks whether to start the land operation."

Sheerah frowned, Val was an ambitious and foolish man. He took a mental note to execute the Commander as soon as the battle was over. After all a man who so easily betrayed his world…would easily betray the CIS.

"Excellent send him the good-to-go phrase …"

The General didn't turn to see the Tactical Droid, he didn't want to miss the spectacle. So he just kept an eye on the reflection of the bridge.

"…commence operation Superiority."

*******

**VenSD "Illustrious"**

Xinaghar orbit, 0622 hours

Wolf listened to the comm exchanges between the different fighter groups as the enemy drew near. The CIS forces were superior and surely will gain the upper hand so it was up to him and the rest of the Republic forces to hold them off a while longer and destroy some of them in the process. Wolf had to make a tough decision, the Separatists were going to strike on the surface of the planet and they were going to need ever man to defend the cities. So he turned to an officer who had taken the position of a XO.

"I want every man and transport on the ground from every Venator and Acclamator, we'll have to leave a skeleton crew. The ground forces will need them more than we do. Also try to ship down supplies."

The man was grim faced, he had realized that they won't survive this battle, but duty towards the Republic comes first. Se, the XO, just nodded and turned to comply with the orders given. Every transport craft and escape pods would be launched towards the surface to help their comrades defend the planet. They had a mission after all and it was more important than their lives. The ships were going to be operated by a minimum crew needed so that they could continue the fight.

Wolf doubted that the Acclamators would be able to send her ships as they were closer to the enemy. Anyway some of the transports might be able to pass through… The Trade Federation frigates and Commerce Guild destroyers were in range and started pouring turbolaser fire at the RASs. The fighter wings found and engaged their targets.

"So it began…"

*******

**ARC-170**

Xinaghar orbit 0625 hours

Shadow 8 and 3 were coming from the right flank of the enemy ships towards the heart of the conflict. 57 watched in horror as the transport ships, launched from the Acclamators, were reduced to scrap by the enemy fighters. The Assault ships were still intact though and giving heavy resistance to the enemy capitol ships.

"OK boys, we're going in very hot!" exclaimed 57.

The scanners picked up a squadron of Vulture droids racing towards the Republic lines to reinforce the CIS attack on the fleeing transports. The two pilots of the fighters pressed the triggers of their sticks and green flares launched towards the enemy crafts. Two Vultures exploded right away and third was struck at its wing making it lose control and smash into the fourth fighter. Four of the rest eight turned around to meet the new targets.

"Well, we now know that they are aware of our presence" said the co-pilot.

"At least they won't chase the boys in the larties..."

The two Republic fighters continued pouring fire towards their incoming enemies thus forcing them to maneuver more and not to be able to make a shot.

"Shields to double front." the pilot commanded the astro-mech droid.

Shadow 3 scored another hit as one CIS fighter was struck right in the middle of its hull and exploded.

"Good shot, Shadow 3!"

That left them with only 3 problems. Their enemies passed between them and then made a sharp turn towards the two ARCs. The pilot – 57 hoped that the astro-mech was smart enough to react and put some shields at their rear. The tail gunners did what they could make things harder for the pursuing Vultures. The two fighters made some sharp twists avoiding debris and turbolaser shots both of which became even more frequent as they were going towards the center of the fighting. It was not a long way as the defense line had already shrunk. They were passing by remains of dead clones, destroyed Republic and CIS fighters. The Acclamtors had to cover a large portion of space while coping with the enemy capitol ships.

The Vultures were still right behind them and trying to get on-lock. Then something miraculous happened - the two Shadow squadron fighters were saved by a couple of V-wings.

"Thanks ner'vod!"

"Sure thing…"

Suddenly the fighter shook wildly, they were struck, a portion of the left wing was missing and fuel and sparks was pouring out of it. When he got the ARC under control, 57 checked the systems and saw that some of the panels were fried and there was that smell…of burnt cables? It seems the hit was more serious than he thought; he then ran diagnostics check and drained the fuel out of the left wing, after that he checked the systems again and it seemed that their main laser cannons were offline. So he'll have to suffice with missiles.

"Um, 57, I think we lost something…"

"Yes, I know, a Tri-Fighter took our left laser cannon. Weapons are offline, tail-gunner, how are your lasers?"

"Fine for now… What are we going to do? Ah… and that beep beep sound is driving me crazy!"

57 grinned as he switched off the alarms then continued with a more serious tone.

"I guess this will be it… We can't return to Illustrious, I'm thinking of taking out a capitol ship…"

A brilliant flash illuminated the canopy, then the fighter shook again…An Acclamator was destroyed nearby. He wondered what were the Venators doing and why weren't they attacking. Something caught his attention, a flaming ball of fire was headed their way, it was a destroyed V-19 Torrent and unfortunately Shadow 3 was not fast enough and collided with it. This caused a violent explosion.

"Shab…"

"Yeah, they were good fellas…"

57 saw their target, a Munificent-class frigate whose shields collided under the pressure of a couple of Acclamators. The third remaining was struggling under the attack from 3 Frigates and a Commerce Guild Destroyer and its crew had several more minutes to live. This was a slaughter, only 3 more wings were intact but their numbers were dwindling by the minute.

"Co-pilot, arm the proton torpedoes, I want a quick launch of every piece of ordnance when I give the signal."

"Copy that…" the man's voice sounded hoarse, he knew that they were about to die.

The Munificent was growing bigger and bigger, explosions erupted from its hull from the powerful blasts of the Acclamators. One of them "Fiery heart" got struck by several proton torpedoes in the central part just beneath the command tower, the ship was disabled. Then 57 saw them, the Lucrehulks were moving in fast and launching waves of Droch-class boarding ships.

"Whoa!" came the tail gunner

"What is it?"

"Our guys from the Venators vapourised a Recusant!"

Finally, but this was not enough to stop the enemy. They were doomed…The last Acclamator was decimated and the Munificent miraculously survived the onslaught, though badly damaged. Not for long…

They received a coded message to head towards the surface, the battle was lost. This was the final order he defied… Not that it was usual for a Clone to defy an order...but as every human being they had to chose (for the last time) what to do and this was their decision, to take an enemy with them so that it won't kill more of their brothers. The shields were doubled at the front part and 57 avoided blasts coming from the frigate. The ARC shuddered as some of the shots grazed the shields, but it didn't matter now…

"Target the bridge…"

"Acquiring target…Steady…Steady…TARGET ACQUIRED!"

They were close to the frigate's bridge.

"TORPEDOES AWAY!"

The six proton torpedoes were launched in a quick sequence, the pilot followed their trails towards their target, and unfortunately a couple of them missed the bridge and struck the ship's side "wings". Luckily 4 managed to penetrate the viewports of the ship and exploded inside blowing the command structure from the inside. It was too late to veer away - they were going in fast to a crash course.

"KOTEEE! DARASUUUM KOTEEE!" This was the last cry of the ARCs crew before the fighter hit the frigate's bridge, followed by a short eruption of fire, molten pieces of durasteel and smashed droid parts.

The Munificent lost control and from the gained momentum it struck the drifting hull of RAS "Fiery heart" and silently exploded in the vacuum of space. One less enemy to think about...


	3. Band of brothers

**Part 3**

"Band of brothers"

VenSD "Illustrious"

Xinaghar orbit; 0700 hours

The battle was almost over and quite fast. Wolf was watching patiently so that the Venators could take part of this slaughter. He took his time, after all there was not prospect for victory and escaping this alive, that's why the Star Destroyers didn't attack the oncoming enemies. They needed some precious moments to start the evacuation of the unnecessary crew to the ground where they could boost a little bit the defenses there. The Clone captain was uneasy, after all he knew that he and his crew won't be seeing the other day and his orders were questionable to say the least.  
It didn't matter, not anymore… Wolf frowned, he had forgotten about the orbital shipyard, they haven't checked in for some time now. They will have to survive on their own…somehow.

"Captain, Sergeant Orr made contact from the shipyards! He says it is urgent!"

What an irony, as soon as he thought about the station they called him. The Clone almost wished for reinforcements to come, but it was unrealistic as the replacements were due to arrive in several days so there will be no help for them. Wolf watched the battle outside for a second as the combined force of the three Venators managed to destroy a Recusant. One less ship to worry about…

"Captain Wolf, this is Sergeant Orr…*static*…we're overrun…*static*…traitors in…*static*…smuggled…droids…aaaaah"

These were the sergeant's last words, the commlink remained active for several more moments so that Wolf could hear what was going on. There were several blaster shots and he could distinguish the synthesized voices of battle droids. So the Xinaghari workers are in league with the CIS and were able to smuggle Confederate mechs. Clearly, the shipyards were lost to the Republic.

"Captain, an YT-1760 freighter is making a run for it, approaching from the capitol city of Zimia! It is not transmitting any codes!" a lieutenant approached him.

The Clone frowned, who are these people? He wondered whether the ship was carrying the Republic agents or some CIS spies. They had no time to waste, he had to decide whether to open fire or let them pass, it didn't matter much…

"What are your orders, sir?"

Wolf turned his head towards the viewport and saw the incoming Droch-class attack pods. It was now clear what the enemy wanted.

"Captain?"

"Let them go and let us hope they are on our side…"

The lieutenant nodded and turned to give the instructions to the turrets. Wolf went to the comms. Officer.

"Corporal, patch me through to the crew."

The officer pressed several buttons and activated the loudspeakers and also connected the captain with the crews of the other two Venators.

"Crew of Illustrious, defenders of Xinaghar, we now face a large enemy force, who clearly wants to take our ships. Defend them with all costs. I am proud to have served alongside such men! For the Republic!"

As the line was closed, the ship shook violently then from several consoles a shower of sparks erupted. One of the officers got fried on the spot. They were struck by several Ion blasts, the ship was disabled. A female voice came "Low power! Ship's defense systems are now offline!" Several moments later the claxons indicated that the hull was breached. As Wolf regained his balance he turned around to see the faces of the bridge's crew.

"Men, we're being boarded, prepare for battle!"

*******

**Lucrehulk-class Droid Control Ship "Grandeur"**

Xinaghar orbit; 0700 hours

The battle was going according to plan, the information provided by the Prime Minister proved to be accurate. Even the losses that the CIS fleet endured were tolerable, after all he could call for reinforcements. The albino Togorian was standing in front of the viewport his massive arms clasped behind his back. He was forging his reputation in fire, the same fire that will liberate all the oppressed beings from the leash of the Republic. The General could almost hear the crowds shouting "Sheerah the Liberator!" he was thankful to Count Dooku for giving him this opportunity so he did everything within his abilities to repay the good man.

"General, our agents in the shipyards have reported that they had overpowered the Clone Troopers and the loyalists."

Sheerah nodded to the Tactical Droid and turned back to watch the final accords of the battle. They had lost a Recusant Destroyer then a Frigate to a single starfighter! This was taking far too long to be tolerated. The Drochs were waiting for the capitol ships to fire their ion cannons and disable the Venators. The General needed the three capitol ships as to slow the Republic reinforcement which will surely arrive sometime in the following week. He had no illusions, his enemies will know soon what is going on and will come to retaliate! So he will have to accomplish his objectives quickly and prepare the defenses before the oppressors arrive.

Blue streaks of energy flew from the CIS capitol ships, the Venators made a final, desperate stand, before the blue lightings engulfed their hulls indicating that they were disabled. The Togorian purred from satisfaction and without turning towards his subordinates barked.

"Signal the Drochs to start their assault on the ships!"

He waited for a moment to consider the situation.

"Move the Lucrehulks closer and prepare the crafts for ground assault!"

Captain N'erot acknowledged the order then an OOM-class droid with blue markings of a pilot turned towards Sheerah.

"General, a Corellian freighter tries to pass through our blockade; they seem to have proper ID identifying them as our agents. Should we let them pass?"

The Togorian growled indicating his annoyance; the droids were dumb enough not to identify the CIS agents on the field. He then told the droid pilot to let the freighter pass, he then managed to overhear the voice of the Separatist agent and it sounded rather familiar. "Is it possible? Thorn?" he thought. Thorn – a Togorian, Sheerah's best friend from childhood, who left their homeworld to find his luck in smuggling and being a merc. Was it possible for his friend to have seen the light and joined their glorious revolution? Sheerah thought for a moment to ask his friend to visit him onboard but remembered that they both have their own duties, they will have time to catch up later… He had a battle to win here…

*******

**V-wing fighter**

Xinaghar Orbit, 0700 hours

It was supposed to be another calm day of patrolling around the fleet for CP-1432 "Skip" or also known as Grey 9 but the seppies thought otherwise and showed up to ruin his day. Skip took it personally, after all they ruined his plans to survive at this theater of war. Patrolling around Xinaghar was a dream job as the sector was "pacified" recently until today a whole CIS fleet jumped while he was having his breakfast and '32 was a man who enjoyed every meal…

To make matters worse his squadron – the Grey Squadron had to remain and protect as long as they can the three VenSDs. He didn't need do a lot of thinking to realize that they were losing badly and the squadron was facing gazillion fighters. He was ticked off by the squadron leader who cocky as ever replied to his remark "Never tell me the odds!" Skip wanted to blast the man. His patriotic feelings towards the Republic quickly evaporated when he remembered his "duty" towards it.

The V-wing was shaking wildly as he frantically tried to pass through a wall of fire between the capitol ships while chasing a Tri-Fighter. "I love those guys…" he murmured sarcastically when another pair of shots missed their target. He checked the readings on the rest of the squadron, it was a miracle – only two casualties! No wonder they were considered the best in the battlegroup. Drops of sweat started forming on his forehead as he watched the Tri moving left and right and missing the center of the crosshair so that he could blast it to atoms. "I have you now!" he exclaimed as he managed to get on-lock followed by a quick burst of blaster fire that ripped the engines of the droid fighter tearing it apart. The pieces had already gained momentum and smashed at the hull of one of the Venators probably denting the outer plating. Well, this is surely their last problem they are worried about. The astromech screamed something unintelligible, even the computer had some difficulties translating it. Then after it was done he could read that a couple of Vultures were closing in towards him. The message was followed by red bursts of blaster fire missing him closely.

"Oh, no you don't!"

He made a corkscrew dive towards the space between two Venators. The Star Destroyers were hammered pretty hardly, the maneuver made him a bit dizzy but Skip managed to shake it off and proceed downwards towards the capitol ships. The V-wing was shaking as the blaster bolts came closer, he considered calling for some help but as he saw the squadron was down to 6 more fighters and by the looks of it they will soon flee for the ground. Skip was passing between the two large vessels followed by a couple of Vultures. One of the droid fighters got lucky and managed to blast away one of his deflector shield's heat sinks, the Q7-class astromech screeched wildly so Skip switched off the commline not to hear it. He needed to concentrate and retake control of the craft, luckily the torn piece didn't smash anything else as it flew away. That was the good news, the bad one was that the Vultures were trying to get on lock and fire their missiles at him. He needed to do something quickly or he won't survive this. As he reached the nose of one of the Venators – "Endurance", he made a sharp turn right, the maneuver rolled his ship ninety-degrees on its side (the tip of the topside wings were pointing at the nose of the Star Destroyer). Skip saw as two blasts passed just in front of his nose barely scratching his shields that were not able to restore themselves fully after the blast. The clone was holding his breath, this was close.

"There are too many of them!" "Can't shake 'em!" were the lines he heard the most from the coming from the surviving members of Grey Squadron. They were being slaughtered, after the sharp turn he started climbing towards the two towers of the bridge. He passed closely to the hull of the Venator the two Vultures closing in from above. The crimson blasts missing him closely managed only to strike the Star Destroyer doing little harm. Seeing on the screen that one of the enemy fighters was trying to get on-lock so that could launch its torpedoes. Skip decided to change his tactics. He then transferred power from the weapons to the engines and managed to boost his speed. Upon reaching the middle of the Star Destroyer the V-wing made a sharp turn right. This unexpected move puzzled the couple of Vultures. Skip got lucky because as he reached the rim of the Venator, the massive ship was struck by several Ion blasts that managed to disable his pursuers too.

Skip made a sharp dive towards the planet following the remaining squadron mates. The battle was over for the Republic, even the CIS fighters lost interest in them so the rest of the squadron could return to the surface. Upon seeing the state of the other V-wings he realized that he was the luckiest as he had lost only a heat sink, the rest of the fighters were heavily battered and burnt. They were entering atmosphere, the remnants of the squadron was headed towards the capitol city of Zimia. His V-wing was shaking wildly from the re-entry, he could see the orange glow of the heated hull on the rims of the fighter. Skip watched in horror as one ship disintegrated due to heavy structural damage. Another ner'vod dead in this war… The clone didn't voice the curse in his mind, the rest of the squadron that consisted of 4 more pilots, remained silent while they approached Zimia. After 10 minutes of flight he could see smokes rising from the capitol as fires were being dealt with on the surface. The Republic forces were beaten…hardly. A lot of good men died on that day…

Skip sighed, at least he was alive so that could fight another day…

*******

**Droch-class boarding ship en-route towards VenSD "Illustrious""**

Xinaghar orbit; 0715 Hours

Orto Carsev, a middle-aged Mandalorian, was crammed together with 4 Commando Droids and a couple of Super Battle Droids in a not so comfortable pod. He was part of a strike team, the objective of which was to create a beachhead on a Star Destroyer full of Clone Troopers. For each capitol ship there were four inbound boarding crafts each carrying, a similar to his, strike team. Orto had to secure the hangar area and then the Lucrehulks were supposed to "grab" in their arms the Venators so that the droid dispenser could be sent and proceed with the taking over the massive ship. The Mando didn't care much about the odds, he craved the adrenaline rush from a battle. It wasn't even personal, he didn't hate the boys in white armor on the contrary he pitied them for being on the wrong side and that of the Jetiise. He didn't like being on the CIS's side, to fight alongside soulless machines disgusted him but he did so because he had a deep respect for General Sheerah, who had asked him for assistance in liberating the Galaxy from the Republic. This was something he would not refuse. "Target in range, closing in." came the emotionless voice of the droid pilot. Orto checked on his HUD if everything was alright and then braced himself for impact.

The boarding ship pierced the hull of the Star Destroyer's with its pincers. Then the front hatch opened, the two SBDs jumped outside with their arms pointed forward. They were to secure the area for the Droid Commandos and the Mandalorians to come in. The BXs followed their bigger "brothers". Then Orto jumped too, unholstering his Westar 34 blaster pistols the same that his Mand'Alor Jango Fett used. The Mandalorian quickly took cover behind a crate, he needed to assess the situation. He was in the hangar area, the other three Drochs had pierced the hull and the other teams were taking their positions under heavy fire from the Clones. He could see that that there were no ships, only a few crates and from what he could make out there were at least 15 troopers. This was an interesting discovery, what about the rest, such ships were known to be carrying thousands of crew only? Was this a trap?

The Super Battle Droids were moving forward firing rapidly at the defenders' positions. Orto could see that one of the B2s was down with multiple smoking holes on its chest. The droid commandos started moving forward as well shooting at the Clones. It was Carsev's turn to move on, the attackers were slowly encircling the defenders. From what he could see most of the Clones were engineers and technicians, and a handful of troopers. Was it possible? The task was far easier than he thought it will be, from the looks of it, the ship was manned by a skeleton crew.

Another Super Battle Droid fell on the ground with a heavy thud. It was time the vode'an to take over the situation. He nodded to his squad mates. His black armor was reflecting the red light thus making him even more ominous. His first kill was an unsuspecting Clone engineer, who was caught in Orto's cross fire as he jumped forward laying down supressing fire. Just as the Mando hit the deck he quickly rolled forward between a couple of enemies. Quickly drawing his pistols he shot them before they could react. A third appeared - this time an armored trooper, and started shooting with his long barreled DC-15, Carsev rolled to the left as blue blast hit the place where he had been moments ago. The mandalorian ducked behind one of the crates for cover. Pinned down, his vision was limited. 'The guy was smart, well no one said that your enemies have to be stupid. ' he thought. A crimson bolt from the barrel of a Verpine Rifle caught the problematic Clone in the face, melting through the helmet. Sevvie, a female Mandalorian wearing a yellow-coloured armour, came to Orto's rescue. He somehow managed to swallow his pride to allow a woman to help him, not that it mattered for a Mando. She was shooting with her Verpine rifle, one of the crimson bolts caught the Clone in the face, melting through the helmet.

The remaining 7 defenders were moving slowly backwards. One of them managed to destroy a Commando droid and three other Clones managed to shoot down another SBD, so they were down to five B2s and thirteen commando droids. So the enemy had managed to destroy two others while he was dealing with the defenders. The droids' role was to keep the Clones pinned down for the Mandos to move forwards and kill them. Orto signaled the Super Battle Droids to maul the defenders' lines, so the massive automata started walking, their chest armor absorbing some of the blasts. It was a quick and almost painless. The Clones had no cover and could not keep shooting and retreating while under heavy fire. They were killed in a matter of seconds.

Then the hangar became quiet again, Orto looked around to see scan the area, but there were no Republic forces, he could see that every airlock was closed as the ship was disabled and the shields were down. For the next part of the operation, the teams had to split up. Two of them were supposed to go to the engine room to restart the core, at least the basic functions like the doors and elevators. The other two had to move towards the side hangar doors to open them so that the Lucrehulks could send the droid dispensers needed for the capture of the ship.

Everything was going as planned…

*******

**Core room; VenSD "Illustrious"**

Xinaghar orbit; 0735 hours

It took the Engine room team to bring the core back to "life". They had to change some cables and burnt parts to achieve that feat. The team leader was Sevvie, a woman in her mid-thirties and still quite attractive despite some scars on her body. She had chosen the life of a mercenary and a bounty hunter when her late rich husband left her behind for another woman. This had been his last mistake as she murdered them both and while running from the local authorities she met a Mandalorian merc who helped her leave the planet. It was then when she was "reborn", she started leading a life of a Mandalorian bounty hunter. The Mando who "recruited" her was Orto Carsev, the very same man she saved the life while trying to take over this Star Destroyer.

Sevvie tapped quickly with her boot on the metal floor to indicate her impatience, not that the droids cared much. She looked around the room; the harsh emergency red lights didn't improve her mood either the color made her more aggressive. The droids were doing their job quickly and professionally as a machine is supposed to work. She felt awkward to having to fight alongside a lifeless automaton. At least the pay was good. Since her first kill Sevvie became addicted to the adrenaline rush that followed it. 'Guarding droids while they were repairing a disabled core was anything but exciting and this is how my husband, Carsev, repaid his debt for saving his life?'She took a mental note to bring this issue up when she will reunite with him.

Sevvie rolled her eyes in annoyance while listening to the four Super Battle Droids patrolling the corridors outside the core chamber. She found it odd that they hardly met any resistance to get to the engine room, several engineers and a couple of troopers who managed to destroy a commando droid. So the team consisted of three BXs, two were working on the core and the third was left in the control room nearby where the master computer was located to ensure that the Clones won't do something irrational. Then suddenly the red lights were winked off to be replaced by regular lighting. The power was back online.

"Commander, the core is activated; we have contacted the unit in the control room to deactivate the unnecessary functions." said one of the droids.

She nodded to the machine and activated her commlink "It is done, the core is online…"

"Good, proceed to the rendezvous point."

******

**VenSD "Illustrious" port hangar area**

Orto switched off the commlink, everything was running smoothly, even the Republic pukes didn't put much of a fight to stop him. He could almost hear his wife's annoyance. The Mando remembered when he met her on her homeworld - the peaceful planet of Chandrilla. Back then she was a scared girl who murdered her unfaithful husband and his lover. He remembered seeing the spark in her that could turn Sevvie into an excellent warrior so he took her under his wing. For his amazement she learned the basics quickly and begun her journey to become a true Mando female. Then came the marriage, this was something to be expected and the Mandalorian culture marriage is more like a contract between a man and a woman and so they said the short lines that made them a family. She became part of the clan Carsev…

He heard the clank of metal feet, a commando approached him.

"Sir, the side hangar doors are open the dispensers are inbound in 5 minutes."

Orto nodded "Good, have the other teams made contact?"

"Yes, sir, they have encountered minimal resistance."

The Mandalorian didn't respond, he turned around to have a better look on the hangar, the massive doors opened, the magnetic containment fields were up so that the air won't escape. Outside he could see the massive arms of a Lucrehulk. The landing on the planet had begun a few minutes before that, probably filling the sky with the massive transports. His HUD detected metal objects moving towards him, the droid dispensers 4 for B1 battle droids, 2 for B2 Super Battle Droids and 1 for Droidekas. After a couple of minutes the large "cylinders" were inside the hangar, Orto could feel the repulsor engines that kept them aloft, then gently descended and touched the floor. Soon after that the dispensers were activated and started pouring droids, Orto could sense the victory hanging in the air.

*******

**20 minutes later the bridge of VenSD "Illustrious"**

Wolf watched the enormous Lucrehulk "embracing" his ship; he was wondering why the CIS needed the three battered Venators. The Separatists' actions rarely seemed logical at all which was rather odd for a machine army. One by one the defensive positions throughout the bridge structure fell silent. The Clone then turned and moved towards one of the screens showing "live" feed from the cameras spread in the corridors. He could see marching droids all over mauling through the Republic defenses, Wolf then switched to check on the prison cells there the bodies of the guards lied on the floor smoke still trailing. There some of the important prisoners, mostly high ranking officers from the Xinaghari defense force who were siding with the CIS, were held. 'So the Separatists came to rescue them.' It didn't matter much to him, not anymore.

He could hear that the rest of the Clones became more agitated, Wolf turned to see what happened then a distinct noise got his attention. He could hear the muffled blasts of blasters and the clanking steps of multiple enemy droids. They were coming, 'So it is over... A short pause then the door exploded sending molten pieces of metal flying. One particular large chunk of shrapnel hit an officer square in the chest. 'At least he died quickly and did not suffer much. Nu kyr'adyc, shi taab'echaaj'la /Not gone, merely marching far away'. Wolf drew his DC-17 pistol and took a position behind a console. He wondered why the clankers didn't attack immediately; they were toying with the Clones' nerves. Suddenly a couple of figures jumped right from the smoke. They were…Mandalorians! One was wearing a black armor and the other – yellow. The Clones didn't hesitate much and opened fire but of no use. The intruders had quicker reflexes and managed to evade several blasts and killed two officers during the process. They were followed by SBDs and normal battle droids.

The bridge area was becoming even more difficult, there were only 5 defenders left and the Mandos were reducing the numbers. Wolf managed to get a head shot of a droid and beheaded it, then sent a couple of bolts in the chest of another one reducing the automaton to scrap. This drew the attention of a B2 and the machine extended its hands in firing position this was followed by a quick succession of crimson bolts melting away a large part of his cover. Wolf then rolled behind to another one in the left and managed to shoot at the assailant but the blasts were deflected by the thick armor. He could sense a presence behind him and decided to turn, this was his last mistake, the black-armored Mandalorian stood there pointing his, he was sure that the assailant was male, Westar 34 pistol at his head. Wolf quickly decided to try his luck but was not quick enough; his brain didn't have time to absorb the information that his cranium was blasted…

*******

Orto felt sorry for the lads, they fought honorably, there was nothing personal – just business. They chose death instead to surrender, like true warriors. He wished that these soldiers were on the Mandalorian side so that they could defeat the Republic and get rid of the corrupt government and Jedi Order. He sighed these grand plans should wait for now, there was another war going on, in which the Mando'ade were merely mercenaries – warriors for sale. Orto looked at the other side of the bridge to see what Sevvie was doing, she seemed to be checking the troopers for pulse, just to be sure. She seemed to enjoy fighting, as if a mental barrier, one that prohibited such acts, was down. This was not the path of a Mandalorian, after all they are not sadistic savages. Orto took a mental note to talk his wife out of it. He moved towards the communications console to make contact with his Togorian friend on the Lucrehulk.

"General Sheerah, we captured the ship and freed the prisoners. We are standing by for further orders. Over"

"Excellent, Orto, my friend! The other teams reported success too, I am sending you a shuttle to join me on the surface. We have a planet to liberate!" came the deep raspy voice of the Togorian General.

This was part of the plan, to take over the ships and replace the crew with Xinaghari Separatists to slow down the Republic reinforcements. The first part of the operation was over, he then signaled Sevvie to join him and move towards the hangars where the shuttle will arrive. His wife removed her helmet and grinned at him, she was excited by the prospect of more battles…

*******

**Meanwhile on Xinaghar; Malberg outskirts**

Malberg was the largest CIS controlled city on the planet and the third largest after Kosmo and Zimia. The production of droids and other mechanized units didn't cease during the war for the world, they were churning up more and more every day. Malberg had the best production capabilities on this industrial planet thus rendering it a vital target. If the CIS hadn't arrived the Republic was going to strike there next so that they could reduce the droid production and to retake control over Xinaghar easily. If they had taken the city the CIS further assaults would have been impossible.

This day was different from the others, the large droid forces were assembling in every Separatist city. This event didn't go unnoticed by a couple of ARF Troopers lying in the snow on a hill outside of Malberg behind the hill the ruins of a farmhouse, that had been hit during a bombing raid by the Republic forces,provide cover for their BARC speeders as the two clones surveyed the area.

"Well, well, the Seppies are preparing for an attack."

"Yeah, we should report back to the boys at the Malia."

Malia was a small town not far from Malberg, it was the central settlement to the Republic's defense line and future staging point for the final assault. The two ARFs could see a long vehicle column heading out of the city. The first battalions were already heading out along the highway leading away from the Malberg. The end of the column could not be seen, somewhere further inside the city beyond their line of were a large number of MTTs, AATs, Homing and Dwarf spider droids, STAPs, Tri-Droids and many others. The Clone lying on the left patted his comrade on the shoulder.

"I can't reach Malia all communications are jammed."

"I guess we should race back there before the clankers strike."

The other one nodded and both Clones quickly jump on their feet and moved downslope towards the bottom of the hill where their BARC speeders were parked and didn't notice a human figure running towards a nearby abandoned shed on their left which originally part of the farm before it was destroyed. As they jumped on the speeder bikes and started the engine the two speeders exploded. The two ARFs were instantly incinerated by the fireball. This was their final mistake, in their hurry they became careless and they both paid the ultimate price for their carelessness. The two BARCs were sabotaged by CIS sympathizers who had noticed the presence of the Clones in the vicinity of the city. These loyal citizens spied on the ARFs and received instructions to sabotage their vehicles to prevent them from escaping. An area considered to have been abandoned - a mistake by the field intelligence.

*******

**Galactic Marines HQ – capitol city Zimia**

Xinaghar; 0800 hours

It had taken the LAAT/i longer to arrive at Adrias' position on the rooftop as there were few left and they were ferrying wounded to the medical centers around the city. He told the pilots not to hurry so that they could finish their jobs. The former Jedi was sitting on one knee at the edge of the roof watching the smoke trails coming from most of the defense areas then his gaze moved upward to see the crashing debris from space. Most pieces will melt in the sky but some eventually will fall on the ground, he hoped this won't happen in a city or somewhere where people lived. The wind blew in the severe-looking face freezing the vapor of his breath on his beard. From the distance he could hear the distinct sound of the Gunship's engines, finally his transport. The pilot was good, he managed to "park" the craft next to the edge so that Adrias will have to make just one step to get in. The repulsors were kicking the snow from the roof.

When he got in, a couple of non-clone corpsmen saluted him; the former Jedi could see dried blood on their light gray uniforms. They came to pick him up when they finished with their job as an ambulance. Adrias just nodded, this would not be the last time they would be doing this and he was sure they were used to such sights. The most cynical people in an army sometimes are the medics as they have seen so much misery and pain than the regular soldiers. They always look as if they are impervious to such feelings as sympathy, this is what war do to people turn them into emotionless machines. Adrias turned his head to watch outside, the bay doors were open he could see the signs of a lot of battles, not just the last one. Layer upon layer of pain and suffering it dawned to him that maybe what he had done for the Galaxy actually was insignificant and that maybe he just killed the wrong-doers to be replaced by others. Adrias cringed inside 'Is my conscience taking revenge?'

He shook off these thoughts as the gunship arrived at the HQ landing pad or what left of it. Engineers, astromechs and medics were moving around, a busy day, one that included wounded and dead comrades and destroyed fighters. A sad scene, in the middle of it Adrias saw the Jedi Master Ki-Adi Mundi one of the most respected Jedi in the Order. The former Knight was taken aback to see such a wise and calm man on a field of battle. He did not expect to see the Cerean there. 'Maybe I was out of touch far too long…' he thought. The older man turned and saw him, Adrias came closer and bowed.

"Master Mundi, I did not expect to see you here…"

The man nodded.

"Neither did I…" Ki-Adi paused "I've heard that you were back as a field agent of the Intelligence. I see the rumors were true."

Adrias managed to make slight smile.

"I am afraid they are…I have spent a lot of time undercover, posing as a bounty hunter and mercenary."

He didn't say that he had murdered a lot of CIS officials and crime-lords; this was not something you can brag for in front of a Jedi Master.

"What brought you here?"

"I am following a lead…Someone ordered General Valentinian dead so I paid him a visit and he claims the Prime Minister is a traitor to the Republic, which is something I believe."

The Jedi raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure about this?"

Adrias sighed.  
"I still don't have solid evidence but am working on it. I will talk to Valentinian, I guess it will be better that the good General act as if he is dead."

Ki-Adi nodded "Alright, then report back to me when you are finished, we will need all the help we can muster."

"I will…By the way, the freighter that lifted off…It was my ship, I sent my crew to warn the Republic."

"Excellent-" Ki-Adi could not finish his sentence as another explosion thundered in the proximity of the base. A clone commander ran towards Mundi "General, unknown forces destroyed our communications center, we are cut off." the Clone paused "There is another thing, our scans indicate that a large number of landing crafts are making an assault on various locations. Our estimates are that with our Type-B and C forces we won't be able to stop them…"

_"Type-A forces were the best equipped forces, Type-B less experienced troopers with less heavy equipment, Type-C forces fitted to do police work in the captured cities."_

This was what Adrias remembered from the classifications of the different types of forces on the field. This meant that the capitol and the surrounding areas were not very well defended. This was why the CIS destroyed the fighters and some of the SAM sites… The Republic will require his service once again… He didn't listen to the rest of the report, he didn't need to, he just pulled his hood on and started walking slowly towards main entrance of the HQ so that he could be back on the streets. He had a mission…


End file.
